Johns Hopkins Health Systems DrPH Course: Tackling the Intersectoral Challenge of Antimicrobial Resistance

Offered as part of the School’s DrPH problem-solving seminar series, this course applies a systems thinking perspective to policymaking through the lens of an intersectoral challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR provides a compelling landscape to examine how global policymaking works; what ethical tensions arise in ensuring access but not excess; what trade-offs in economics and equity are struck by differing models of pharmaceutical innovation and access; and how a One Health approach to tackling AMR reveals both tensions and opportunities in intersectoral collaboration. Taught on-line, the course introduces the use of problem and objective trees; stakeholder and SWOT analyses; and behavioral change approaches to addressing AMR. Working in groups, students have the opportunity to develop a system-level intervention applying these policy tools to tackle AMR challenges in the healthcare delivery system or the food system.